The Bodyguards Sweetheart

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

   RIAN SHOULD’VE KNOWN that Kane would miss nothing. It was a waste of time to lie so Rian met his brother’s stare. What could he say? “Are you going to bust my balls about this? Because it’s complicated.”

Kane grunted in answer and pushed off the barn door, coming toward him. “I know it’s about to get a hell of a lot more complicated when the father finds out that you’re banging his daughter—the daughter you’re supposed to be protecting.”

“Ah, so you are going to bust my balls,” he muttered. “Look, I know I screwed up. I don’t know what to say—some things happened between us and now we can’t seem to stop.” His cheeks flared as if he were a boy caught with his pants down and he got flustered. Trying to explain himself just made it worse. “Mind your own business, Kane. I’ve got this handled.”

“And how exactly do you have it handled? Because the chemistry you were throwing at the table was enough to catch the linens on fire.”

It wasn’t his fault that CoCo made his eyes cross. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on. “I don’t need a lecture from you. I understand the consequences.”

Kane disagreed, not willing to let it go. “I don’t think you do. Because I can’t imagine that you would’ve risked everything for a piece of ass.”

Rian’s temper flared. “She’s not a piece of ass. Don’t talk about CoCo that way.”

“Well, I can’t imagine why you would do something so stupid. For crying out loud, Rian, you couldn’t have waited until the job was over? There are plenty of fish in the sea but this one was off-limits.”

“I know that!”

“Then why did you cross that line?” Kane wasn’t letting him off the hook. And maybe that was a good thing but it was really pissing Rian off. “Just how do you see this ending? I don’t see it ending well. What’s going to happen when you move on? What if she gets jealous and starts making trouble? What if she wants to get even when you break things off and goes and tells her dad that you two were messing around? This is our company’s reputation on the line.”

“Why would you think that she’d do anything like that?” Rian scowled. “She’s not that kind of person.”

But then he thought of CoCo and his first impression of her and he paused. Was that the real CoCo and what he was seeing now was an act? He didn’t want to believe that but maybe he was being a fool. “She and I already made an agreement that once we return to Los Angeles it’s over. Just leave it at that. Can’t you trust that I would never put our company in jeopardy?”

Kane shook his head, angry. “Before this moment I would’ve agreed with you but now that I know you’ve been sleeping with a client, I don’t know what to think. You screwed up, Rian. Take responsibility.”

am taking responsibility. I won’t let anything happen to our company.”

“See that it doesn’t. You need to end this now. Don’t wait until Los Angeles. End it today.”

Rian knew Kane was right. He never should have acted on his impulse but there something about CoCo that sparked a fire so intense that it burned with delicious heat. Still, he’d known all along that they were on borrowed time. He glared at his brother. “Don’t say anything to CoCo. Let me handle it,” Rian said gruffly. “You’re not exactly known for your tact.”

“Fine. But by tomorrow, it better be done.”

Kane left the barn and Rian stood there feeling like a chastised child. His dignity was trashed and his pride was definitely bruised. But there was something else, something beneath all of that, that bubbled and churned. He simply didn’t want to end things with CoCo. That was the bald truth—the truth that he held back because he knew Kane wouldn’t understand. Kane would never mess with a client. Until now, neither would Rian. But there was something about CoCo that made him want to throw every rule he’d ever held for himself into the trash. He looked to Amelia, who was slowly chewing on her hay, nickering with satisfaction. “You got any suggestions, girl? Because I think I’m screwed.”